…the catch phrase of the century in modern self improvement literature, corporate jargon, and well..my world in terms of writing.

I’ve wanted to write. I’ve wanted to for a long time.

I used to write short stories and poems in my early teens, and then didn’t really write again until my mid twenties. Although, at this point I was writing corporate emails, technical documentation, and performance reviews.

Regardless, I did it with the same conviction I feel I would have if I was writing the first draft of a novel.

Years later in my early thirties I was feeling slightly burnt out in the IT/Finance world and feeling the need to scratch a creative itch. This materialized into a very detailed five year plan to go back to school and get my arts degree.

Needless to say I didn’t in fact get my arts degree, but I did start going to night school while continuing to pay my mortgage with my day job. I took English classes and Anthropology and it was all reading and writing. I loved it. My desire for writing had once again been sparked.

But many things, including my own voice, stopped me from doing anything about it. Especially once I started looking into the world of blogging as a way to start writing. May I quickly clarify that there is no golden rule stating that’s where you need to start writing, but I did indeed think it’s where I wanted to start – with a good old blog.

Also, being the leader of the Capricorn pack of perfection, I felt that first  needed to know everything about everything on the topic, have a following, have a professional website, the list went on. So it wasn’t even just about the writing part. It was everything else like how to make people read you, like you or how monetize your writing in some way. It’s exhausting when you get into all of it. But to me it also seemed to come across as forced and fake in some way.

Like how to portray yourself and your brand or words in a way that is proven worthy. Which leaves me wondering what that makes me if I’m not following the tried and true path, this method laid out by these successful bloggers. Who knows, maybe one day that will become the focus and I can revisit all the blog gurus out there, but for now let’s just write, right?

I’ve been stuck to be honest at step one. What is your blog about? What is your message? I thought I knew, and I started writing for fun before getting caught up in webinars about how to live your best life on a beach with a laptop. And then all the other stuff above came howling in louder than anything, so I remained stuck at step one.

They say you should start with a specific topic, get a niche audience ear on your side. So I thought I hit the spot one day when it struck me that of course, my blog would revolve around Psoriasis and how it’s impacted my life for the last 20 years. But I didn’t really want to write about Psoriasis.

And I didn’t only want to write about the other topics I brainstormed I figured I knew something about like travel, travel tips, cooking, being on again off again vegan, relationships, dating, love, heartbreak, career, finding your purpose, the list went on.

I couldn’t settle on any specific topic, because I am them all, and I wanted to include them all. But I was worried I wouldn’t please the largest group of people, or any people. Because ‘they’ made it very clear your blog is not about you, it’s about your readers. But I wanted to write for me..are you feeling my sense of fluster?

Then one early morning at one of my sisters 6am-kick-your-booty-AIR-workout-classes, I was reminded of one very true fact. A dedicated 6-am-er client of hers was discussing the change of schedule, and commented on Kerri’s concern of not meeting all clients class time requests, by saying ‘You’re not going to please everyone Kerri!” And ain’t that the truth.

Similarly, I am reminded of one of Matthew Hussey’s many sentiments on dating, suggesting that you are not going to be for everyone, just like everyone is not going to be for you.

But we are so egotistical on this topic that of course we do feel like everyone should be into us even though not everyone is going to be good enough for us (eye roll emoji). How ridiculous and narcissistic!

So yes, we cannot please everyone, and for a people pleaser like me that’s a hard pill to swallow when it comes to writing. As a result it put me in a paralyzed state for a long time before I could put something out there. Liz Gilbert, I read you, I hear you, and I was really trying my best to start and just do it. It took some time, but here I am.

Whatever it is you might want to try your hand at, take your time, but minimize the noise and try to listen to yourself first. It’s not about perfection, it’s about doing something and moving forward in a positive direction that serves a positive purpose – this is a reminder that I need to give myself daily.

So tell yourself what you need to, and then be sure to walk your talk.